A new normal?

Thousands of concertgoers celebrated the end of a country music festival in Las Vegas. Not only were they drawn by the music, they were drawn by all the attractions of Las Vegas itself.

About 22,000 of them crowded in the shadows of several enormous hotels. It was a time for some fun.

Suddenly, what sounded like automatic gunfire broke out. Many concertgoers at first thought the noise came from fireworks. The lead singer continued singing until he realized what was happening. Gradually, too, the crowd became aware of the shooting.

The gunfire reportedly lasted more than nine minutes.

The shooter poured hundreds of rounds into the crowd. Concertgoers hid behind cars and obstacles. Many ran from the venue, trying to scramble over the fencing that enclosed the scene.

Some will never run again. Fifty-nine were killed outright. Hundreds were wounded and taken to area hospitals. At last count 527 were injured.

The shooter reportedly had at least 23 weapons. His perch was on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort overlooking the concert site.

This is the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

At this point little is known publicly about the shooter, at least not enough to get a handle on him. He apparently killed himself before the SWAT team entered his hotel suite.

This incident, regardless of the reasons and motivations of the shooter, comes in a long string of gun violence.

Sadly, mourning is about as far as we, as a nation, go in such situations.

Of course, a lot of words will be spent in the aftermath. Demands, suggestions and plans will be discussed and debated. And, nothing will come of it all.

This is what happened after Sandy Hook. This is what happened after the Pulse nightclub shooting.

Then, the voices die down, and we simply wait for the next massacre.

The nation has to come to terms with the violence eroding the country. And, it is not all big city lawlessness. Just up the road, Freeman High School lost a student with three others wounded in an act of gun violence. A student in Colfax threatened to shoot up the schools.

This type of violence is now described by some as the new normal. Saying violence is just an indication of changing times, and we will have to get used to it.

Shootings and gun violence can only be the new normal if the nation accepts them as such.

This we cannot do, or else we will just wait idly by for the next massacre.

Gordon Forgey

Publisher